Who Broke the Covenant: Paul or Muhammad?

Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the
flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

Lets see what Paul says about circumcision...

1 Corinthians 7:19

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.
Keeping God's commands is what counts.

Paul fails to realize that to keep circumcision is to keep God's law and he is breaking
it.

RESPONSE:

First, the Law which Paul was referring to was the one which God gave through Christ:

"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under
the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as
to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the
law (though I am not free from God's law BUT AM UNDER CHRIST'S LAW), so as to win
those not having the law." 1 Corinthians 9:20-21

Paul states that he is not under the Law, meaning the Law of Moses, but under the Law
of Christ (a Law which, by the way, bound him to keep much of the Mosaic commands
since he was an ethnic Israelite. We shall have more to say on this later). This clearly
demonstrates that the commands which Paul instructed believers to observe were those
given by Christ personally or through his Apostles. More on this next.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was
weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the
righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to
the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:1-4

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the
law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

"But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man
will be blessed in what he does." James 1:25

Furthermore, the Lord Jesus gave his divinely appointed representatives
the authority to bind or loose believers from specific commands, determining what rules
were necessary and which ones were no longer obligatory:

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven." Matthew 16:19

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:18

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But
when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not
speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to
come." John 16:12-13

This is why one often finds the Apostles referring to the authority they
had from Christ to command believers:

"If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him
acknowledge that what I am writing to you IS THE LORD'S COMMAND. If he ignores
this, he himself will be ignored." 1 Corinthians 14:37-38

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please
God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this
more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord
Jesus ... Therefore, he who rejects THIS INSTRUCTIONdoes not reject man but
God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2, 8

The foregoing shows that believers are required to consult the teachings of the Apostles
in order to know what instructions God has given to the Church. Hence, the only commands from
the Old Testament which would still be applicable are those which the NT expressly binds
all believers to observe or which had not been consummated by the work of Christ. As noted
Evangelical Scholar Craig L. Blomberg stated in reference to 1 Corinthians 7:18-19:

Verses 18-19 illustrate this principle with the example of circumcision
versus uncircumcision. Judaizers sought to force Gentile Christians to be circumcised
(Acts 15:1), while many Jews who sought acceptance in the Greco-Roman world underwent a
minor surgical procedure to make themselves appear to be uncircumcised. Although it was
one of the most fundamental ritual requirements of Judaism, circumcision is now a matter
of moral indifference for believers (cf. Acts 15:1-21). The New Testament counterpart
to circumcision is salvation, symbolized by baptism (Col. 2:11-15).

"Keeping God's commandments" (v. 19) for Christians does not
mean observing all 613 pieces of Mosaic legislation, at least not literally, though all do
have relevance in one way or another for believers (2 Tim. 3:16). Rather Paul refers to
the reinterpretations and applications of the Law for a new age, in light of the words and
works of Jesus and the apostles. (Blomberg, The NIV Application Commentary - 1
Corinthians [Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids MI], pp. 145-146; bold emphasis
ours)

We also need to keep in mind that Paul's letters were directed primarily
to Gentile believers since his mission was predominately to the Gentiles:

"I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you
of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the
Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles
might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I
glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except
what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have
said and done by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.
So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of
Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so
that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written:
'Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.'
This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you." Romans 15:15-22

"As for those who seemed to be importantwhatever they were
makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearancethose men added
nothing to my message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task
of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who
was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my
ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter and John, those reputed to be
pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace
given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they
asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to
do." Galatians 2:6-10

Moreover, the NT emphatically teaches that Gentile believers do not need
to be circumcised in order to be saved or justified:

"Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the
brothers: Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you
cannot be saved. This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with
them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to
Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on
their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles
had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. When they came to
Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they
reported everything God had done through them. Then some of the believers who belonged to
the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, The Gentiles must be circumcised and
required to obey the law of Moses. The apostles and elders met to consider this
question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed thm: Brothers,
you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from
my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he
accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no
distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why
do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor
our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord
Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. The whole assembly became silent as
they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had
done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up: Brothers,
listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from
the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this,
as it is written:"After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins
I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all
the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known
for ages." It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the
Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain
from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals
and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is
read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. Then the apostles and elders, with the
whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul
and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders
among the brothers. With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders,
your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: reetings. We have
heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling
your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with
our dear friends Barnabas and Paul - men who have risked their lives for the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of
mouth what we are writing. It seemed good TO THE HOLY SPIRIT and to us not to burden
you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food
sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual
immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell." Acts 15:1-29

Note that Paul AND the other Apostles of the Lord Christ agreed that circumcision
was unnecessary for Gentile believers.

Keeping the foregoing in view, we can see why Paul wrote what he did in 1 Corinthians 7:19.
Paul may have been addressing Gentiles who thought that they needed to be circumcised in
order to be approved by God. Paul reminded them that a physical mark doesn't mean anything
if one fails to keep God's commands, the very point which he makes in his epistle to the Romans:

"If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will
they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised
physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written
code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker." Romans 2:26-27

In other words, as long as the Gentiles faithfully carried out the
commands of the Lord Jesus they need not worry about circumcision since Christ never gave
them that commandment.

This leads us to our next point, namely the precise stipulations of the covenant made with
Abraham in Genesis 17. Let us highlight two key aspects of the Genesis 17 passage which Zawadi
evidently missed:

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant
between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your
God and the God of YOUR DESCENDENTS AFTER YOU. The whole land of Canaan, where you
are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and YOUR DESCENDENTS;
and I will be their God.' Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you must keep my
covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my
covenant with you and your DESCENDENTS after you, the covenant you are to keep:
Every male AMONG YOU shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it
will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every
male AMONG YOU who is EIGHT DAYS OLD must be circumcised, including those born in your
household or bought with money from a foreigner-those who are not your offspring.
Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circmcised. My
covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has
not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my
covenant." Genesis 17:7-14

The passage states that God gave this command to Abraham and his PHYSICAL descendants.
Foreign slaves also had to be circumcised since they fell under the headship of the Israelite
master, being viewed as members of the household.

This instruction also applied to any foreigner who wanted to live in the land of Israel
and observe God's holy feasts:

"An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover
must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like
one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it." Exodus 12:48

"'An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover
must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same
regulations for the alien and the native-born.'" Numbers 9:14

What the foregoing shows is that, during the Old Testament dispensation,
circumcision marked an alien's willingness to worship and follow the God
of Israel as opposed to the gods of the nations. Yet the person in question
would still maintain his ethnic identity, his distinct nationality, and
wouldn't be reckoned as an offspring of Abraham since, during this period,
such a connection would be based solely on physical lineage or descent from
the patriarch.

During the NT period, however, things became different since, in Christ the Son
of Abraham, Gentiles could become children of Abraham. Yet Gentile Christians do
not become PHYSICAL descendants of Abraham. They become his SPIRITUAL
offspring and therefore not bound to keep the command of physical circumcision.
Rather, being spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith in Christ, their circumcision
is spiritual in nature. It is a circumcision of the heart which is symbolized by baptism:

"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision
merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision
is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's
praise is not from men, but from God." Romans 2:28-29

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of
you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise." Galatians 3:26-29

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me
to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those
dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the
circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put
no confidence in the flesh  though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If
anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised
on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for
legalistic righteousness, faultless." Philippians 3:1-6

"In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the
sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the
circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him
through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were
dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with
Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its
regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it
to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle
of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:11-15

Now this is the case with Gentile believers. With Jewish Christians, however, they were
required to be circumcised since they were ethnically related to Abraham, not just spiritually:

"And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named
Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his
father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Ico'nium.
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised
him because of the Jews that were in those places, for they all knew that his father
was a Greek." Acts 16:1-3

And as physical Jews they still observed many aspects of the Law of Moses in light
of the revelation of Christ, a revelation which led them to the realization that observance
of the Law doesn't save or justify, but is the means by which to work out their sanctification
as Jews:

"Let it be known to you therefore, brethren, that through this man
forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him every one that believes
is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law
of Moses." Acts 13:38-39

"And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them,
'Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that
by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And
God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit
just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them,
but cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you make
trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither
our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be
saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.'" Acts 15:7-11

"On the following day Paul went in with us to James; and all the elders
were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had
done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they
glorified God. And they said to him, 'You see, brother, how many thousands
there are among the Jews of those who have believed; they are all zealous
for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews
who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise
their children or observe the customs. What then is to be done? They will
certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have
four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with
them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all
will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you but
that you yourself live in observance of the law. But as for the
Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that
they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood
and from what is strangled and from unchastity.' Then Paul took the
men, and the next day he purified himself with them and went into the
temple, to give notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and
the offering presented for every one of them." Acts 21:18-26

In this last text, James brings to Paul's attention the unfounded rumor that
the latter was teaching Jews, not Gentiles, to live contrary to the teachings
of Moses. In reality, Paul did no such thing since, as we stated earlier,
his instructions were aimed primarily at Gentile converts.

In fact, Paul could make the confident assertion that he didn't act contrary
to the Law and that the Jews could bring no charge against him to show that
he did, nor could they prove that he was ceremonially unclean as far as the
Law was concerned:

"And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:
'Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully
make my defense. You can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I
went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with
anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or
in the city. Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against
me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a
sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down
by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which
these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the
just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience
toward both God and man. Now after several years I came to bring alms to my
nation and to present offerings. While I was doing this, they
found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult.'" Acts 24:10-18a

"Paul argued in his defense, 'Neither against the law of the Jews,
nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any
offense.'" Acts 25:8

"After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews,
and when they had gathered, he said to them, 'Brothers, though I had done
nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was
delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When
they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no
reason for the death penalty in my case.'" Acts 28:17-18

What the foregoing examples demonstrate is that Jewish followers of the Law
of Christ still observed certain OT injunctions which Gentiles had been loosed from
and therefore not required to observe.

In the words of liberal NT textual critic Bart D. Ehrman who does a wonderful job
of explaining why believing Jews kept specific parts of the Torah which Gentiles
were freed from (comments within brackets are my own):

Scholars have a field day with questions such as this, with scholarly
opinion ranging all over the map. In my view, the easiest way to solve the
problem is to say that Paul somehow imagines that there are two basic kinds
of laws given in the Jewish Scriptures. There are some laws that are meant
for Jews to show that they are members of God's covenant community,
including the laws mentioned above, of circumcision, kosher diet, Sabbath
observance, and so on. These are the laws that make Jews
Jewish. But salvation in Christ, for Paul, is not for Jews only; it
is for Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles are not expected to become Jews in order
to be right with God [Note- Ehrman is not denying that Gentiles become
spiritual Jews, which is plainly taught by the NT writers as we saw above.
Rather, he is focusing on the distinguishing marks that are commonly
associated with being an ethnic Jew]. If they had to do anything of the
sort, it would show that the death of Jesus itself was not sufficient for a
right standing before God. But it is the death of Jesus alone that makes a
person right with God. Gentiles who think they have to become Jews (for
example, by being circumcised) have completely misunderstood the gospel.

There is, however, the other kind of law found in Scripture. This is
the kind of law that applies to all people–for example, not to murder,
not to commit adultery, not to bear false witness, and to love your neighbor
as yourself. Everyone, Jew and Gentile, needs to keep these laws. Those who
are in Christ are able to keep these laws because the Spirit of God empowers
them to do so. So it is not by keeping the law that one is right with God.
But one who is right with God will keep the law, at least that law that is
designed for all people though not the law designed to show who is
Jewish and who is Gentile. For that reason, even though Paul taught
a "law-free gospel"–that is, a right standing before God does not
come from keeping the law–he did not, at least in his own opinion,
teach a "lawless gospel," that is, a gospel that leads to wild and lawless behavior.
Believers in Christ are still expected to live moral upright lives, and the Spirit
enables them to do so.

Finally, I should point out one of the most striking aspects of Paul's
teaching about the salvation of God that comes apart from the law. Paul
claimed this teaching is taught by the law itself. In other words, he did
not see himself as innovative, coming up with a new religion distinct from
Judaism. In his view, his understanding of Jesus as the fulfillment of God's
promises to Israel (the promised messiah) was a fulfillment of Judaism.
Throughout his writings he appeals to Scripture itself as "proof" for his
views. In one famous passage, for example, he points to the father of the
Jews, Abraham, who was not, Paul insists, put into a right standing before
God by keeping the law. Instead, Abraham was put into a right standing
before God because he had faith: "And Abraham believed God, and it was
counted to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6; quoted by Paul in Rom. 4:3
and Gal. 3:6). For Paul, Abraham pointed the way for all future generations:
the Torah itself shows that keeping Torah is not what gives a person a right
standing before God, but having faith does. And for Paul, that means faith
in what God has now done in fulfillment of the Scriptures, in having Christ
die for sins and then being raised from the dead. (Ehrman, Peter, Paul, &
Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend [Oxford
University Press, 2006], pp. 117-118; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Finally, Genesis 17 explicitly states that males have to be circumcised on the eighth day:

"For the generations to come every male among you WHO IS EIGHT DAYS OLD MUST BE
CIRCUMCISED, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner
- those who are not your offspring." Genesis 17:12

In light of this stipulation it is rather amusing to note that the Muslims
are the ones who are in violation of God's everlasting command and are therefore
disqualified from being God's covenant people. The reason is that the Quran nowhere refers
to circumcision being obligatory, let alone commanding Muslims to observe it on the eighth
day. This has led Muslims to circumcise males anywhere from a few days old to a few years
old, in fact even older, which is an express violation of the Abrahamic covenant!

Zawadi may appeal to the hadith literature to show that Muslims are
required to get circumcised. The main problem with appealing to the hadith literature is
that it is this same source which also demands that women get circumcised as well!

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it
consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce
(Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert).
(A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna,
while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)

However, the above English version of this Sharia manual is actually a misrepresentation of
the facts and the Arabic text as the reader can see in this
discussion.

Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah:
A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to her:
Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.
(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41,
Number 5251)

Various hadiths also define legal intercourse (for purity purposes) as occurring
when the circumcised parts cross or touch each other, i.e. circumcision of both
men and women is presupposed.

Abu Musa reported: There cropped up a difference of opinion between a
group of Muhajirs (Emigrants and a group of Ansar (Helpers) (and the point of dispute was)
that the Ansar said: The bath (because of sexual intercourse) becomes obligatory only-when
the semen spurts out or ejaculates. But the Muhajirs said: When a man has sexual
intercourse (with the woman), a bath becomes obligatory (no matter whether or not there is
seminal emission or ejaculation). Abu Musa said: Well, I satisfy you on this (issue). He
(Abu Musa, the narrator) said: I got up (and went) to 'A'isha and sought her permission
and it was granted, and I said to her: O Mother, or Mother of the Faithful, I want to ask
you about a matter on which I feel shy. She said: Don't feel shy of asking me about a
thing which you can ask your mother, who gave you birth, for I am too your mother. Upon
this I said: What makes a bath obligatory for a person? She replied: You have come across
one well informed! The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sid: When anyone sits
amidst four parts (of the woman) and the circumcised parts touch each other a bath
becomes obligatory. (Sahih Muslim, Book 003,
Number 0684)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to
say, "When the circumcised part passes the circumcised part, ghusl is
obligatory." (Malik's Muwatta, Book 2,
Number 2.19.77)

Basically, this means that if Zawadi wants to prove his case from the hadith literature
then he must be consistent and accept the fact that Islam commands female genital mutilation.
He also needs to start encouraging Muslim women to get circumcised since it is a Sunna according
to the traditions of Islam:

Question :

Is female circumcision sunnah or a bad
practice? I read in a magazine that female circumcision in any form is a bad practice that
is harmful from a medical point of view, and that it may sometimes lead to sterility. Is
this correct?

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

Circumcising females is sunnah; it is neither a bad practice or harmful,
if it is done within moderation. When extreme forms of female circumcision are carried
out, harm may result. (Question #1188: Ruling on female circumcision;
online source)

In light of the foregoing, we offer the following challenges to Bassam:

PLEASE PRODUCE A VERSE FROM THE QURAN COMMANDING MUSLIMS TO CIRCUMCISE BOYS
ON THE EIGHTH DAY IN FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.

ALSO PRODUCE A STATEMENT FROM THE SAHIHAYN WHICH COMMANDS BOYS
TO BE CIRCUMCISED ON THE EIGHTH DAY.

For more on Paul and the Law, as well as how this Muslim argument
discredits Muhammad more than it does the blessed Apostle, we recommand the following
articles: